Flight Safety Information
June 30, 2011 - No. 132
In This Issue
Obama to ask Deborah Hersman to chair NTSB for second term
EASA issues emergency AD on life limits of A330 and A340 landing gear parts
ICAO adopts safety information code of conduct
New transport body's creation proposed (Phillipines)
JFK airport is snarled by turtles on runway
FBI: Nigerian stowaway slips onto U.S. flight
Arik Air gets US FAA Part 129 certification
American Reportedly Plans Big Jet Order
EASA starts inspecting Superjet for European certification
Obama to ask Deborah Hersman to chair NTSB for second term
Hersman has been a member of the NTSB since 2004.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate
Deborah A. P. Hersman for a second, two-year term as chairman of the National
Transportation Safety Board. Hersman has been a member of the NTSB since 2004.
In announcing the nomination, the White House noted that during Hersman's tenure on
the board, she had members on the scene of 19 major transportation accidents and
has chaired numerous board hearings, forum and symposia on accident investigations
and transportation safety issues.
"I am deeply honored to be re-nominated to serve as chairman of the National
Transportation Safety Board," Hersman said in a statement released by her office. "It
has been a privilege to lead this remarkable organization with its dedicated and
professional employees. I am grateful for the faith that President Obama has placed in
me and look forward to working with my fellow board members to make
transportation - across all modes - safer for our citizens."
http://www.thetrucker.com/News/
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EASA issues emergency AD on life limits of A330 and
A340 landing gear parts
The European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) issued an emergency
Airworthiness Directive (AD) effecting specific Airbus A330 and A340-200/-
300 aeroplanes. EASA requires reduction of the existing main landing gear
(MLG) bogie beam life limits and replacement of each MLG bogie beam that
has already exceeded the new limit.
During ground load test cycles on an A340-600 aeroplane, the MLG bogie beam
prematurely fractured.
The results of the investigation identified that this premature fracture was due to high
tensile standing stress, resulting from dry fit axle assembly method.
Improvement has been introduced subsequently with a grease fit axle assembly
method.
Analysis was performed on other bogie beam with dry fit axles. It has been
determined that MLG bogie beams with specific part numbers are more likely to suffer
from standing stress generated by dry-fit axles because these bogie beams are stiffer
between the axle sockets. These two part numbers are fitted on A330, A340-200 and -
300 series aircraft.
Fracture of a MLG bogie beam under high speed could ultimately result in the
aeroplane departing the runway, or in the bogie detaching from the aeroplane, or MLG
collapse, which could cause structural damage to the aeroplane and injury to the
occupants.
More information:
* EASA Emergency AD No.: 2011-0122-E
www.aviation-safety.net
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ICAO adopts safety information code of conduct
ICAO adopted a code of conduct to oversee the collection, sharing and use of aviation
safety information. "Transparency and sharing of safety information are fundamental
to a safe air transportation system. The new code of conduct will help ensure that the
information is used in a fair and consistent manner, with the sole objective of
improving safety," said ICAO Council President Roberto Kobeh González.
According to the UN body, the code of conduct consists of guiding principles aimed at
developing a consistent, fact-based and transparent response to safety concerns at the
state and global levels. The intent is also to promote public confidence in air travel and
mutual trust among states by providing reassurance as to how the information will be
used.
"With the code, guidance is given to member states, the aviation industry and other
aviation organizations on establishing or improving their legal and institutional
framework governing the use of safety information and on formulating and
implementation of related legal agreements," stated ICAO.
http://atwonline.com/international-aviation-regulation/news/icao-adopts-safety-
information-code-conduct-0629
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New transport body's creation proposed (Phillipines)
MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has been urged to support a
proposal that would create a new transportation body to handle investigation and
evaluation to prevent accidents in air, marine, and land travels.
Davao del Sur Rep. Nelson Dayanghirang filed House Bill 2463 seeking to establish a
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB that will focus on the conduct of regular
studies on transportation safety procedures and make suggestions.
"It will be similar to the NTSB of the United States in handling investigation, analysis,
evaluation and prevention of air, highway and marine transportation accidents,"
Dayanghirang said.
He added that the NTSB would be the primary government body to investigate
aircraft, highway, railway and marine transportation accidents including passenger
train and pipeline accidents in which there are fatalities.
Dayanghirang said that the system in regulatory agencies concerning the transport
industry has limited time and resources to conduct a thorough and impartial
investigation on any major accidents considering that "they themselves are liable due
to the improper or lack of proper knowledge in implementing the law."
"A public utility bus with passenger was washed away by floodwaters into a river in
Isabela province. The most recent tragedy that hit the transportation industry was the
crash landing into the waters of Manila Bay of Laoag City Airlines Fokker plane where
at least 14 people died," Dayanghirang noted.
Citing major tragedies in maritime industry like the sinking of M/V Dona Paz in 1987
that killed 4,000 people and that of of M/V Dona Marilyn that left 250 passengers dead
in 1988, Dayanghirang stressed the need to have an independent government agency
that will promote transportation safety and conduct fast investigation of accidents.
Dayanghirang said the recent disasters are testaments to the inadequate response of
the government towards prevention of similar catastrophes. "These tragedies could
have been avoided had government initiated proactive measures designed to ensure
safety consciousness among the owners of public utilities as well as the regulatory
agencies mandated to monitor their operations," Dayanghirang said.
He added that the bill will create the Office of the Aviation Safety, the primary task of
which is to conduct investigation of all aviation accidents, determine the probable
cause of accidents, and initiate safety recommendation to prevent future accidents, as
well as conduct special investigations into selected aviation accidents involving safety
issues of concerns.
The bill will also create the Office of Surface Transportation Safety, to conduct
investigations of highway, railroad, marine, pipelines and hazardous materials
accidents, determine the probable cause of accidents and to initiate recommendations
to prevent future transportation accidents.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/324869/new-transport-bodys-creation-proposed
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JFK airport is snarled by turtles on runway
NEW YORK (AP) - About 150 turtles crawled onto the tarmac at New York's JFK airport
yesterday in search of beaches to lay their eggs, delaying dozens of flights, aviation
authorities said.
The slow-motion stampede began about 6:45 a.m., and within three hours there were
so many turtles on Runway 4L and nearby taxiways that controllers were forced to
move departing flights to another runway.
"We ceded to Mother Nature,'' said Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey, which owns the airport. Workers from the Port Authority
and the US Department of Agriculture were scooping up turtles and moving them
across the airport, he said. Flight delays averaged about 30 minutes, the FAA said.
The migration of diamondback terrapin turtles happens every year at Kennedy, which
is built on the edge of Jamaica Bay and a federally protected park. In late June or
early July the animals heave themselves out of the bay and head toward a beach to
lay their eggs.
Several pilots began reporting turtles on Runway 4L just as the morning rush hour was
beginning at JFK, according to a radio recording on LiveATC.net.
"Be advised 30 feet into the takeoff roll, left side of the centerline, there's another
turtle,'' said one pilot.
Female diamondback terrapins can grow up to 9 inches long and weigh up to three
pounds.
The main concern is for the turtles, Marsico said. He said crews were giving the turtles
rides on pickup trucks to the nesting beaches.
"We built on the area where they were nesting for generations, so we feel incumbent
to help them along the way,'' he said.
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FBI: Nigerian stowaway slips onto U.S. flight
Virgin America discovered the man wasn't supposed to be on the flight.
(CNN) -- A man from Nigeria has been charged with being a stowaway after he
allegedly took a flight from John F. Kenney International Airport in New York to Los
Angeles, even though he did not have a proper boarding pass and was not on the flight
manifest.
It wasn't until after the flight took off Friday that the airline, Virgin America, discovered
the man, identified as Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, wasn't supposed to be on the flight,
according to an affidavit in the case.
After being questioned by a flight attendant, Noibi produced a boarding pass from a
different date that was not in his name, FBI Special Agent Kevin Hogg said in the
affidavit.
The man whose name was on the boarding pass later told Hogg that his boarding pass
had disappeared from his back pocket after he took the subway to the airport last
Thursday, according to the affidavit.
A law enforcement official told CNN there is nothing at this point to indicate terrorism
in the case.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Greg Soule issued a statement
saying, "Every passenger that passes through security checkpoints is subject to many
layers of security including thorough physical screening at the checkpoint. TSA's review
of this matter indicates that the passenger went through screening. It is important to
note that this passenger was subject to the same physical screening at the checkpoint
as other passengers."
The TSA had no further comment due to the ongoing FBI investigation, Soule added.
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Arik Air gets US FAA Part 129 certification
Nigeria and one of West Africa's largest commercial airlines, Arik Air, has satisfied the
requirements as stipulated by the United States Department of Transport on foreign
operated aircraft into the United States, to become the first Nigerian airline to meet
the criteria in 15 years.
The approval grants Arik Air the ability to commence operations with Nigerian
registered aircraft directly into the US.In order to have Part 129, an airline must
demonstrate airworthiness as defined by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA),
meeting standards in operational areas.
The acquisition of Part 129 approval follows closely on Arik Air's placement on the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry,
a requirement to full IATA membership.
In addition, it currently operates a three-time weekly schedule from its hub in Lagos to
New York, through a part ACMI wet-lease with Hi Fly Transportes Aeroes of Portugal.
Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, group chief executive officer, Arik Air, said; "Arik Air
continues to demonstrate its impeccable and rapid operational strength, reliability and
safety. "To receive Part 129 from the US FAA, so soon after our placement on the
IOSA registry, is a fantastic achievement.
This is also very good news for the aviation industry in Nigeria as a whole, to have
Nigerian registered aircraft operating into the US for the first time in over a decade,
indicates the major steps that had been taken by the commercial operators and
parastatals last year in obtaining Category 1 status for the country, and it is an
achievement that we all share in," he noted.
http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/travel/aviation/23803-arik-air-gets-
us-faa-part-129-certification
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American Reportedly Plans Big Jet Order
FORT WORTH, Texas (TheStreet) -- American Airlines is in active talks with Airbus and
Boeing(BA_) to replace about 38% of its current fleet by buying at least 250 aircraft
for roughly $15 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.
American, a subsidiary of AMR(AMR_), currently flies an all-Boeing fleet. The airline is
interested in both Airbus's single-aisle family of A320 airplanes and a new-engine A320
variant that will start flying in 2015, people familiar with the matter told the
newspaper.
American also is looking at Boeing's 737 family of airplanes, which include the 737-700
and 737-900, types that aren't currently in the airline's fleet. American has 152 737-
800s in its fleet and more on order, according to the Journal.
American, the third-largest U.S. airline, hopes to resolve terms of the airplane order
this summer, the people said, the Journal reported.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11170837/1/american-reportedly-plans-big-jet-
order.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN
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EASA starts inspecting Superjet for European certification
European authorities have started inspecting the Sukhoi Superjet 100 as part of the
effort to certificate the twinjet outside of Russia.
The preliminary inspection of prototype 97005 is being undertaken at Toulouse Blagnac
airport to support the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee's type certificate
procedure.
Sukhoi said the inspection began on 27 June and will continue to 10 July.
This procedure will include 15 flights carried out with participation from European
Aviation Safety Agency pilots. Sukhoi is aiming for EASA certification this year.
"EASA certification is a top priority milestone for the entire [Superjet] programme,"
said Sukhoi. "We look forward to continuing the successful collaboration with EASA and
will certainly do our best to receive the EASA certificate."
Sukhoi said the certification is crucial to the delivery, planned next year, of the type to
Mexican carrier Interjet following a deal secured by marketing arm Superjet
International.
EASA has already certificated the PowerJet SaM146 engine for the Superjet. Russian
authorities awarded the aircraft its type certificate in February this year, ahead of
service entry by Armavia in April.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC